“So this is the teleportation device,” Capitan muttered, a strange look on his face. “Hmm...”
He was studying the large purple crystal floating in the center of the small stone temple we’d just entered. I was pretty sure I knew why he had that look on his face: The crystal looked quite different from the teleportation devices that Capitan was used to.
I thought it was a bit strange myself. Since this was a dungeon, I’d expected a magic circle just like the one that connected Hathara with Good King Felt’s massive underground dungeon. Was there a reason this one took a different form? Or did it actually run on the same underlying mechanism and we were just too ignorant to understand?
Maybe Lorraine could’ve made some headway toward an answer, but unfortunately, she wasn’t here. Everyone present had made their living off of their brawn rather than their brains, myself included. Diego was the only possible exception, having been a priest in the past, but he looked to me like the type of guy who would, at the end of the day, put more faith in the strength of his arm than anything else. Was that a biased thing to say? I guess it didn’t matter.
“So we just have to touch it, and it’ll teleport us?” I asked Diego. He seemed to know the most about the dungeon.
“Yes. It’ll take us back to the entrance,” he confirmed, nodding. “And in the future, we can come back here by thinking of this place while touching the one there.”
“Hmm? Was there a crystal like this at the entrance?”
“Only those who have touched this one can see it. Since I was the only person in the party who had, I didn’t bother bringing it up.”
“Oh, right. That wasn’t the first time you’d slain that Greater Armorfish. Of course you’ve been here before.”
“Indeed. I’ve never been farther than this point, though. The group I was partied with were satisfied making it this far, and I wasn’t skilled enough back then to go any deeper by myself. It’s likely I could handle myself a little better now, but I still doubt I’m good enough to make it to the next teleportation device.”
“The next one?” Capitan repeated, as he studied the device. “So there’s another one just like this farther down?”
“Yes. I’m not sure how far it is, but there’s one on every stratum in the middle layers,” Diego explained. “It might be the same for the lower layers too, but I haven’t purchased any information on them—too expensive. It’s not even publicly known how many adventurers have made it that far. Regardless, I’d suggest leaving a large margin for safety beyond this point. Not to point out the obvious, but the monsters are a lot stronger than the ones in the upper layers.”
“I see. That’s good to know—I only purchased the information on the upper levels myself,” Capitan said. “Are you sure you should have told us all that, though?”
Diego nodded. “I don’t see a problem. Figured it was better to share, since we’re partied together. Niedz, Lukas, Gahedd—make sure you remember it too, all right? But don’t go spreading it around. I don’t want the guild or any information brokers holding a grudge against me.”
The trainees, who had been listening in on the conversation from the back of our group, visibly flinched. It seemed as if they had actually been planning to sell the information later.
“H-Huh? Why would they hold a grudge?” Niedz asked.
“The reason they restrict the information in the first place is to prevent cocky lower-class adventurers from thinking that’s all they need to make it down here,” Diego explained. “This goes for every country and city, but most information brokers work with the guild to make sure the relevant know-how only gets into the hands of adventurers with the appropriate skill level. Some brokers work outside the system, sure, but they tend to be the ones involved in the shadier side of society, which makes them dangerous. I’m not saying you absolutely can’t spread what I told you—just make sure you don’t tell the wrong person, or you might find yourselves in danger.”
“R-Right.” Niedz nodded, looking slightly alarmed. “Got it.”
Diego nodded, satisfied, then jerked his head toward the teleportation device. “All right. Shall we, then?”
Naturally, none of us had any objections. We touched the crystal, causing it to glow faintly, and then everything went white.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Oh. Is this...?”
Looking around, I saw that we were at the dungeon’s entrance—more precisely, the first area that wasn’t underwater. I was relieved that the teleportation device wasn’t sadistic enough to dump us at the bottom of the ocean—though Diego probably would’ve warned us if that was going to be the case.
Speaking of Diego, I saw that he was right—there was a large floating crystal nearby. It was just like the one deeper down, albeit green instead of purple. It was even housed within the same small temple-like building.
I wondered if the difference in color was because the crystals were made of different minerals, or whether it was somehow related to its mana. When it came to complex mechanisms, it was always hard to glean anything just by looking at them; I wished I could take the time to study it properly.
Diego seemed to have noticed my curious gaze. “If you’re thinking of taking it back with you to study it, don’t bother,” he said.
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“The dungeon will teleport a horde of monsters here to keep it safe. There’s a record of it happening before.”
I considered that for a moment. “I guess that makes sense. Otherwise a teleportation device wouldn’t be just lying out in the open like this.”
“Indeed. The last adventuring party that tried it had a scholar who got too curious for their own good. The monsters all disappeared once the party had made enough distance, though. Probably teleported back to their original places in the dungeon.”
“It’s a little frightening that it has its own defense mechanism,” I remarked. “Convenient, though. And it does explain a lot.”
“Better that than someone making off with it,” Diego agreed. “Shall we be on our way, then? The way back up is the same as the way down. Rentt, Capitan—I imagine you’ll have no problem, but... Niedz, Lukas, Gahedd—will you be all right?”
The trio nodded vigorously. It seemed they were somewhat intimidated by Diego. I kinda got where they were coming from—he did feel kind of like a stern older brother sometimes.
We lowered ourselves into the water and made the tiring journey back. Fortunately, the behemoth of a fish we’d seen on the way in was nowhere to be found, and we made it safely to Mazlak’s boat on the surface.